Definition
A systematic, deliberate sequence of looking — either outside the aircraft for traffic, terrain, and visual references, or across the flight instruments — in which the pilot moves attention through specific points in a planned pattern rather than letting the eyes wander or fixate on one place.
Plain English
A planned way of moving your eyes from one thing to the next so you check everything that matters and don't get stuck staring at any single point.
Context Anchor
Commonly used in instrument flying, traffic lookout, and any cockpit task where the pilot must keep checking several things in a steady pattern.
Derivation
From Latin scandere, 'to climb,' which gave rise to the sense of 'examining step by step.' That stepwise idea is exactly what a pilot's scan is — moving through points in order, not all at once.
Why Pilots Care
Prevents fixation on any single instrument and supports accurate aircraft control.
Intuition Check
Do not read scan as just “look.” In flying, a scan is an organized, repeated checking pattern, not a single glance.
Example Sentence 1
During cruise, the pilot maintained an outside scan, sweeping the windscreen in segments to check for traffic before returning attention inside.
Example Sentence 2
Fixation on the altimeter broke the scan and caused a heading deviation.